35: Séance Science (w/Susannah Crockford)

One of the top podcasts in the world—even beating out Rogan for a few hours—is popularizing a well-meaning intervention for non-speaking autistic people. Unfortunately, that intervention happens to be a proven failure, and may set autistic and disability rights discourse back by decades.  Filmmaker Ky Dicken’s The Telepathy Tapes podcast delves into the world of Facilitated Communication, in which non-speaking people are believed to miraculously gain access to complex written language after lives of silence. According to Dickson, non-speaking people can also gather in transdimensional spaces and channel spiritual knowledge. But there’s a problem. Every controlled test shows that the messages produced through letterboards and iPads are coming from the facilitators—not the non-speaking persons. In this episode, Matthew interviews experts in pseudoscience and autism, including Janyce Boynton, a former (now dissident) practitioner of Facilitated Communication who explains how seductive and promising it was to practice, but how it ultimately steals agency and dignity from the autistic client. And... this is also a story about parents dealing with crushing levels of unpaid and invisible labour. They are already doing miraculous work. A fantasy is no replacement for true support and recognition. Show Notes Podcast About 'Telepathic' Autistic Children Briefly Knocks Joe Rogan Out Of No. 1 Spot   Ky Dickens Director | Filmmaker  Facilitated Communication—what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator MD25438 - Powell, Diane Hennacy, MD - OR License Verification - 01/12/2025 11:07:47 AM  The Telepathy Tapes: Separating Science From Pseudoscience In Autism Communication  Stolen Voices: Facilitated Communication Devalues Autism | Psychology Today Canada Multiple method validation study of facilitated communication: II. Individual differences and subgroup results - PubMed   The Telepathy Tapes Prove We All Want to Believe "The Telepathy Tapes" is Taking America by Storm. But it Has its Roots in Old Autism Controversies.  Mixed Messages: Validity and Ethics of Facilitated Communication | Disability Studies Quarterly  Is There Science Behind That? Facilitated Communication  Controlled Studies — Facilitated Communication Served people with severe communication impairments — Obit for Rosemary Crossley More Doubts over Disability ‘Miracle’  Katharine Beals Jonathan Jarry MSc - Science Communicator   FCisNotScience - YouTube — Janyce Boynton’s awesome YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Jan 1h 11min

The seventh installment of Matthew’s Five Big Questions Posed to an Extremely Thoughtful Person.  Sam Adler-Bell is a journalist, political theorist, and co-host of one of Matthew’s favourite podcasts, Know Your Enemy—a show about the American right. They discuss the normalization of genocide, the stark comforts of Freud and Janet Malcolm, the relief of DW Winnicott, how we can’t avoid playing the role of our own mothers, and also good advice from his dad, a labour lawyer who knows something about long, uncertain, but always worthwhile battles for the common good.  Show Notes Sam Adler-Bell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Jan 32min

Twitter Files journalist Alex Berenson recently published two articles claiming that Moderna covered up a child's death from a Moderna Covid booster trial—and the FDA is complicit. Children’s Health Defense then hosted him on their TV program to learn more about this outrageous scandal. Do Berenson's claims hold up? All Derek did was click on the links in his own article to discover the "truth." He looks at this phenomenon through the lens of the 2020 book, Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World. Show Notes Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World Alex Berenson’s article Children’s Health Defense interview The Lancet study on Covid vaccination in children Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Jan 3min

We know Bryan Johnson gobbles 100 pills a day. He pumps his son’s plasma through his veins. He does light therapy on his junk and wants to live forever. But do we understand how Johnson’s fascinations reflect his Mormon heritage? No. No we don’t.  That’s why we called our very own Salt Lake City expert, Blair Hodges, host of the Relationscapes podcast.  Blair joins Matthew to discuss Johnson’s transhumanism, which has roots in the LDS but has also led him away from it. They cover the spirituality of his money, whether he’s trying to become a living god, and how his home gym has some distinctive Mormon temple elements. Also: is Bryan really as polite as he seems, or is he hiding Blair has degrees in journalism, religious studies, and disability studies from the University of Utah and Georgetown University. He directed communications for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies at Brigham Young University before moving to the nonprofit sector. He has served as communications director for Volunteers of America, Utah and RMHC of the Intermountain Area. He’s currently working on a research project on the history of intellectual disabilities in Mormon thought. Show Notes Relationscapes—Blair Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Jan 47min

In January, 2023, Bloomberg published an article about how tech entrepreneur turned longevity stan, Bryan Johnson, spends $2 million a year in an attempt to live forever—or at least until age 200, as the goalposts shift. Then a Netflix documentary, Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, dropped on January 1, taking a deep dive into Johnson’s quest and complex personal life. A strange thing happened along the way: Johnson felt much more personable and relatable than ever before to many viewers. Given the Bloomberg journalist is one of the producers, is this the latest propaganda piece by a supplements-pushing huckster, or is Johnson tapping into something much older and deeper about the human condition? Show Notes How to Be 18 Years Old Again for Only $2 Million a Year Politico piece on Mayor Karen Bass and LA Fires Anna Merlan on LA Fire conspiracies Ally Carter Diddy-List Fire Conspiracy Theory Shared by Former Bush Official Nutritionist Reviews The Blueprint Supplements Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Jan 1h 1min

A one-time drop of Derek's new podcast, Clarity Lab, the official podcast of Siris Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building a free educational platform and curating social media channels that feature experts presenting health and science in a clear, compelling manner. Celery juice. Coffee enemas. Ozone therapy. The list of pseudoscientific cancer "treatments" is endless. Yet they all risk pushing people in vulnerable positions toward untenable "cures." Dr Andrea Love joins Derek Beres to discuss the dangers of cancer misinformation, as well as why the field of cancer research is so complex—and rewarding. Dr Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist, as well as subject-matter expert in infectious disease immunology, cancer immunology, and autoimmunity. She writes the Immunologic newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Jan 35min

Matthew sits down with sex-work veteran and social justice advocate Esme Providence Brown for the first of two chinwags about our famous New Age / wellness antifeminist, Kelly Brogan, and how her craven politics bolster the permission structure for Trumpian misogyny. They track her political and aesthetic journey from labcoat-wearer to wellness pole dancer to BDSM cosplayer—a spiral through deepening layers of appropriation, disavowal of responsibility, and cringe-tastic ideas. This is only Part One! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Jan 5min

UCSF epidemiology and biostatistics professor Vinay Prasad's star rose when he compared the US response to Covid-19 to the beginnings of the Third Reich in October, 2021. Though a less famous contrarian than others in the MAHA sphere, the hematologist-oncologist has honed his social media trolling over the past few years, always ready for a fight, evidence be damned. Derek and Julian look at two recent videos that signal Prasad might be angling for a position in a potential RFK Jr-run HHS—and all the misinformation he continues to spread. Show Notes BMJ's Systematic Review on Quarantine Measures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Jan 36min